As the thought of writing this piece popped up, I was reminded of an old Hindi film song penned by Sahir Ludhianvi: “Jayen toh jayen kahan, samje-ga kaun yahan, dard bare dil ki zuban, jayen toh jayen kahan…”
Translation: “Where! Where shall we go? Who would understand here, the cries from the minds full of pains.”
And that is precisely the plight of Muslims in India.
“Go to Pakistan” and “Send them to Pakistan” are the xenophobic cracks that are often being hurled against them by the neo-nationalistic extreme Hindu fanatics.
In the last couple of years, a visible part of most Hindu parades are the anti-Muslim tirades, violence and attacks on mosques.
The tragedy is that most of the Hindu population is apathetic to these recurring taunts and onslaughts.
“Jayen toh jayen kahan,” where shall the Indian Muslims go?
From generation to generation, the land of their birth, rooted in the soils of the nation, breathing its air and dust from coast to coast, from the Himalayas to the tip of Kanyakumari, the 204 million (2019 census) community, third largest in the world, has been made to feel that they do not belong to India.
The very land to which it has contributed immensely over the centuries in every walk of its life. Its feelings and emotions lie in the nation’s struggles and achievements.
They echo in the eternal voices of Mohammad Rafi, gazals of Begum Akhtar, and many more. And in the music of Naushad Ali, Khyamm and A.R. Rehman, in the Shanai of Bismillah Khan, in the classical voice of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, in the Tabla beats of Ustad Zakir Ali Khan.
Their roots, sentiments and eminence contributions are reflected in the words of Kabir, Ghalib, Alma Iqbal, and, more recently, in the poetry of Sahir Ludhianvi and Javed Akhtar.
They are in the talents and dialogues of Muhammed Yusuf Khan alias Dalip Kumar, Mehboob Khan’s “Mother India,” and Nargis Dutt, in the versatilities of Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
They emanate in the fierce shots of Sania Mirza, Param Vir Chakra awardee martyr Havildar Abdul Hamid, and the philanthropist industrialist Azim Premji.
They represent the religious, cultural and historic places framed in the marble beauty of the Taj Mahal, the sacred shrines of Ajmer Sharif, in the sprawling complex of Jama Masjid.
Muslims reside in the patriotic and intellectual sentiments of ex-presidents of India: Zakir Husain, Fakhruddin Ali Ahamed, and APJ Abdul Kalam.
Muslims are proudly wrapped in the Tri-color of India along with Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and others in the spirit of “Hum Hindusthani.”
Promod Puri.com 
Good article
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